Climate change

The Authoritative Guide to Water and Sanitation Related Diseases, with Many Revised, Updated and New Chapters, Accompanies the First Edition

Augmenting authoritative interdisciplinary coverage in the first edition, this new edition of Water and Sanitation-Related Diseases and the Changing Environment expands upon the significance of the changing environment to disease vectors, food systems and nutrition, and population, and the importance of ecosystem health to human health. Many chapters stand as they are in first edition to which readers are referred, and which are not included in this volume.

In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists have combined an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth with data on human activities to map locations where freshwater is changing around the globe and to determine why.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, finds that Earth’s wet land areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier due to a variety of factors, including human water management, climate change and natural cycles.

A team led by Matt Rodell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, used 14 years of observations from the U.S./German-led Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft mission to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions around the world.

Horizon International announces Partnership with the Global Innovation Exchange, “a global online marketplace for innovations, funding, insights, resources and conversations, allowing the world to better work together to address humanity’s greatest challenges.” The Exchange is providing summaries of resources from Horizon’s Solutions Site with links to the full articles and case studies. The founding partners include the U.S. Global Development Lab at USAID and the world’s leading donors, foundations, universities, research organizations, non-governmental organizations, and news media. View a comprehensive and growing list of partners.

Scientists are studying coral reefs in areas where low pH is naturally occurring to answer questions about ocean acidification, which threatens coral reef ecosystems worldwide. A new study led by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that coral reefs in Palau seem to be defying the odds, showing none of the predicted responses to low pH except for an increase in bio-erosion--the physical breakdown of coral skeletons by boring organisms such as mollusks and worms.

"Scientists and policymakers will use SMAP data to track water movement around our planet and make more informed decisions in critical areas like agriculture and water resources," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. SMAP also will detect whether the ground is frozen or thawed. Detecting variations in the timing of spring thaw and changes in the length of the growing season will help scientists more accurately account for how much carbon plants are removing from Earth's atmosphere each year.

A new NASA satellite that will peer into the topmost layer of Earth's soils to measure the hidden waters that influence our weather and climate is in final preparations for a January 29, 2015 dawn launch from California. The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission will take the pulse of a key measure of our water planet: how freshwater cycles over Earth's land surfaces in the form of soil moisture. This data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy and carbon cycles.

“The rate at which the Caribbean corals have been declining is truly alarming…They are a major oceanic ecosystem, this is a tragedy that must be reversed,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme. But the study, Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012, “brings some very encouraging news: the fate of Caribbean corals is not beyond our control and there are some very concrete steps that we can take to help them recover.”

The report, “Investment in Climate Change Adaptation Can Help Promote Livelihoods of 65% of Africans,” provides a snapshot of current and predicted future impacts of climate change on livelihoods, agriculture, and human and ecosystem health in Africa.

“Integrating the Environment in Urban Planning and Management: Key Principles and Approaches for Cities in the 21st Century,” a report launched on 8 April 2014 jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Cities Alliance at the 2014 World Urban Forum in Medellin, Colombia, says that as consumers of over 75% of natural resources, cities can be major contributors to efficiency and sustainability.